Dissonantia
by ChemiToo
Summary: The nations take their stand. Sequel to "Nuntius."


The tense silence in the board room is broken by a very hesitant Iceland. He raises his hand, looking around worriedly.

"Ah, I...I don't understand," he begins, pausing to clear his throat, "What's going on?"

If possible, the silence becomes even more oppressive.

"Antarctica and Arctic are responsible for seeing the world to its completion," England explains wearily as he looks across the table at Iceland, "They are intrinsically linked to the World Clock,"

"Which...is a clock that times how long the world has to...live?" Iceland squeaks.

A shuffling sound attracts Germany's attention as Norway gets to his feet. He nervously smoothes out the front of his suit jacket before speaking.

"I forget how young you are, Ice," he muses softly, smiling a little, "I never told you this story when you were young,"

Across the table, Iceland huffs and crosses his arms in embarrassment.

"When the world was first born, the World Clock was formed. It ticked away, timing the hours, years, eons..." he trails off, drawing a deep breath before continuing, "It is, you can say, the heartbeat of the earth. But, as Antarctica pointed out, the world cannot live forever,"

Germany raises an eyebrow as America snorts, but refuses to look over at him. Norway looks slightly annoyed, but doesn't respond as all eyes turn onto him once again.

"Go on, Norway," England encourages.

Norway nods, mostly to himself, as he inhales deeply.

"The World Clock isn't _just_ a clock," he points out, "It's the source of all of the world's magic as well. The gears turning in the clock are what give magic in this world its power,"

He pauses, as if waiting for one of them to laugh. None do.

"Like a turbine," Germany muses, absently cracking his gloved knuckles.

"Right," Norway insists as he nods, "But, at first, the magical power of the world produced by the World Clock was too great to be contained. Dangerous, unstable. If left unchecked, it would have destroyed everything,"

Germany blinks spastically at him.

"In response, the World Clock created a failsafe, a system to ensure that its magic would be in balance. It distributed its power between two entities: one at each end of the earth," Norway continued cryptically.

"But...the earth is round," Spain points out.

"He means the North and South Pole," Romania elaborates, grinning crookedly and revealing a pointed canine tooth.

"Right," Norway nods in agreement, "Half of the full power of the World Clock is with Antarctica, and the other half is with Arctic. They were to remain sealed away until summoned by the World Clock at the end of the age,"

"But...why is Antarctica here?" Austria asks.

Norway exchanges anxious looks with England as the other nation rises from his seat.

"She's part of the failsafe," England explains with a shake of his head, "The World Clock has run out of time. Now, it's left to her and Arctic to use the world's magic to bring it to a close,"

"You mean destroy the world," Japan deduces with a frown.

"...yes," England nods.

The silence is unbearable as the nations all exchange horrified glances, varying from shock to outright despair.

"Is that why...?" Hungary trails off, gesturing toward England and Norway.

"Right, that's why the three of us were affected so strongly," England states confidently, "We could feel it when Antarctica emerged from the ice because of the disturbance it created,"

"This is nuts," America blurts, "Why are we all just sitting here twiddling our thumbs?! We should be coming up with a plan to stop this!" he declares as he rises to his feet. All eyes turn onto him.

"America, we are merely trying to explain our situation," England states patiently, softly, as he returns to his seat. Germany almost smiles at the gentleness in his voice toward his former colony, but it doesn't quite manage to manifest onto his face over his rising panic.

"There HAS to be a way," America insists as he pounds his fists on the table. Germany winces as a cracking sound meets his ears-really, America needs to learn to check his strength. He liked that table, damn it. Not that it mattered much now, though.

"Well then WHY hasn't anyone come up with anything?" France demands as he crosses his arms over his chest in irritation, "It's...it's just meant to happen,"

"Oh you candy-ass, listen to yourself!" America shouts, face mottled red with rage, "You just wanna give up!"

"We cannot simply fight this, Alfred," England insists gently, rather out of character for him. Germany joins the rest of the room in turning to stare at him. The island nation looks tired, haggard. His green eyes are dull and listless as he stares down at the table in despair.

"E-England?" America squeaks as he approaches and gingerly puts his hand on England's shoulder; he doesn't move.

"He's right, America," Norway sighs, "We all knew it would end sometime, and-"

"Don't," America warns.

"Isn't...isn't there something we can do?" Italy asks quietly, opening his amber-colored eyes to look cautiously around at the nations seated around him, "Maybe we can't stop it, but...isn't there some way to turn the clock...back?"

Silence fills the room.

"Oh my God," America blurts suddenly. Germany winces at the brightness in his eyes-that look always meant he was devising yet another crazed scheme. He jumps as America whoops excitedly, throwing his hands up as he laughs.

"Of COURSE!" he cries, "Why didn't I think of this sooner?!"

"Think of what?" Germany drawls as he rolls his eyes. What would it be this time? His guess was something to do with giant robots again. Japan had actually been on board with the last scheme, though.

"It's so simple. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out," America muses as he turns to address each of the other nations, "The world will end when the World Clock stops, right?"

He pauses as he receives blank stares in return, taking the lack of response as a sign to proceed.

"And the World Clock will only stop when Arctic wakes up, right?" he continues, eyes shimmering with something Germany can't quite place and doesn't care to.

"Well, that's what Antarctica told us, _oui_ ," France muses.

"Then we just have to make sure that she never does," America says darkly; Germany resists the urge to shudder at the look in the superpower's eye, but only just.

Awkward silence fills the board room.

"Wait, what are you saying?" Hungary asks suddenly, abruptly.

To everyone's horror, America merely smiles and the room explodes into an uproar.

"What?!"

"You're not saying we go to WAR over this,"

"How would we even fight? There's no way!"

"You want to _murder_ a defenseless person?"

"You're crazy, that doesn't-!"

"STOP!" Germany roars through the din, effectively shutting them up. All eyes turn onto him as he glares at America suspiciously. He draws a deep breath before speaking, inhaling through his nostrils and slowly releasing it to calm his shot nerves.

"America," he begins with a sigh, "You propose that we...what, exactly? Murder Arctic in her sleep?"

"Doesn't sound very _heroic_ to me," Russia chuckles.

"What?" America blurts, glaring at Russia and frowning, "Listen, all I'm saying is that we take some...preventative measures in order to delay her waking up,"

"Like what?" England demands, obviously rattled. His nerves were worse than Germany's at this point, he mused.

"Well, Antarctica said she was trapped underneath ice, right?" America begins.

"Right..." Spain trails off.

"So all we need to do is make sure it'll take longer for Arctic to climb out," America continues, "It's simple, really-just a few well-placed explosives and-"

"No," England states as he rises from his seat once more to look America in the eye. His hands are shaky, his legs unsteady, but his eyes are like emerald steel.

"But-"

"NO, America," England snaps, shaking his head, "That won't get us anywhere,"

"But it will bide us more time," America insists.

"No it won't," England retorts, "it will only make matters worse,"

" _How_ can things get any worse?!" America screeches, throwing his hands into the air for emphasis. A trait he picked up from England, Germany noted wryly.

"Don't raise your voice with me," England growls, eyes narrowing into slits.

"Don't you tell me how to speak, _England_ ," America threatens.

Beside Germany, Italy whimpers and attempts to slide underneath the conference table; Germany grabs his sleeve and yanks him into his chair again. Uncomfortable glances pass between several nations before China finally speaks.

"I agree with England," he says with a respectful bow, which England returns, "This is fruitless. Our people are already teetering on the brink of nuclear war; this will not help us,"

"But what if it does?" Iceland asks quietly, looking sheepishly at the array of nations seated around him, "It...might give us more time. Maybe more time to negotiate so that there won't be missiles firing,"

"Time to make peace..." Japan trails off thoughtfully, furrowing his brow.

"You can't be serious," France quips, "This is suicide-attacking one of the Poles is a guarantee that the world will end even faster!"

"You don't _know_ that, France," Denmark states with a worried frown.

"The instant anyone starts bombing _anything_ , the other world leaders will notice and the nukes will start flying all over the globe," England points out.

"He's right," Australia agrees with a nod.

"I think so as well-this plan is ill-advised, America," Thailand says as he stares at the table.

"Oh come on," America sighs in agitation, "You all just want to give up. You just all want to lay down and die, don't you?"

No response.

"Well I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna do whatever I can to try and save this world," America says resolutely, fire in his blue eyes.

"But you need a better plan," France points out.

America whirls around and slams his fist onto the table-again. Germany rolls his eyes at the resulting splintering noise, but remains silent.

"Hey, at least I _have_ a plan. Unless you can think of something better?" America asks heatedly. France sighs, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation.

"How about a vote?" someone peeps, barely audible.

"I know-how about a vote?" Italy chimes suddenly in his singsong voice. Canada grumbles, but Germany barely hears him over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. This was certainly not like any vote they had previously held.

He gulps as Italy nods at him, smiling encouragingly. He rises, looking over the sea of anxious faces in front of him and clearing his throat.

"As always, each nation may vote one time, either yea, nay, or he or she may abstain," Germany states mechanically, taking a deep breath, "Today, we will be voting on America's proposal to...attack Arctic," he falters, pausing briefly, "If you are in agreement with him, say 'yea,' if not, say 'nay.' If you abstain, state as such. Does everyone understand?"

As usual, no one says anything, and Germany looks to his left. Austria looks up at him anxiously.

"You first, Austria," he says quietly.

"Abstain," Austria says.

"Abstain," Hungary sighs, shaking her head.

"I abstain as well," Switzerland states, to nobody's surprise. America snorts.

"Abstain," Lichtenstein whispers.

"Nay," Thailand states, nodding at China.

"Nay," China says firmly.

Germany watches as every other nation abstains from the vote, swallowing nervously as the vote turns to America.

"Yea," America growls as he raises his hand.

"Nay," England states, turning and glaring at America, who glares back.

"...yea," a soft voice whispers.

All eyes snap onto the chair next to England. Canada squirms in his chair, clutching his bear to his chest defensively. Germany blinks spastically, processing.

"All right, Mattie! I knew I could count on ya!" America laughs, giving his twin the thumbs-up.

"Canada, are you sure you know what you are agreeing to?" England asks patiently. If Germany didn't know better, he would say that was panic flashing over the Brit's face in that moment.

"I do," Canada answers with a nod, "And I think...it's worth a shot,"

Silence fills the room, buzzing in Germany's ears.

He turns to Russia, who smiles at him in that unnerving way of his.

"Abstain," Russia chirps, reaching over and pinching Canada hard on the arm. The other nation squirms, but doesn't back away.

"Yea," Japan says quietly.

Germany's jaw falls open in disbelief. Japan coolly stares him down, unblinking.

"...nay," Norway states uncertainly, eyeing Japan with bewilderment.

"Yea," Iceland blurts, pointedly not looking at Norway.

"Abstain," Denmark breathes, staring at Iceland in shock.

"A-abstain," Finland stammers with wide eyes.

"Abstain," Sweden grunts.

"Nay," France says with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Abstain," Latvia squeaks.

"Me too," Lithuania whispers.

"Lithuania, you have to say-" Germany starts.

"Abstain," Russia quips with a smirk. Lithuania jumps and leans away from the table in fright.

"Lithuania must speak for himself," Germany growls. This always happened at meetings-he wondered why they even allowed the Baltics in the same room as Russia sometimes.

"Ah, of course," Russia says lightly, "Go ahead, Lithuania. Tell them what you think,"

"Abstain!" Lithuania sobs, setting his jaw and staring at the table in front of him as Russia chuckles approvingly.

"I abstain," Estonia sighs, defeated.

Silence.

Germany looks down at Italy worriedly. His amber eyes are wide and filled with fear, staring up at Germany with a trembling lower lip.

"Y-yea," he manages, nodding at Germany resolutely.

Germany pauses, listening to the sound of his heart plummeting into his stomach. It falls like a stone, heavy and lifeless as his wide blue eyes gape at Italy in shock.

"Italy," he manages, throat constricting painfully as Italy nods again.

All eyes are on him again, the lone nation standing in the room.

"We...have a tie," Germany says quietly, nervously.

Italy would never make it. He would never survive on his own-never could.

But the fate of the world was at stake.

"My vote will...be the deciding one," he adds with a frown, clenching his fists and staring down at the table in contemplation. The silence around him is crushing, pressing down on him with a vice-like grip as he struggles with his thoughts.

This was suicide. There was no telling what trying to bury Arctic deeper into the ice might do. It could make things considerably worse, even set off a nuclear war...

But, if it bought them more time, maybe they could negotiate a way out. Stop the world from ending by the hand of man and the terrible splitting of the atom.

No, that was crazy-the humans would act first and ask questions later, just as they always had.

Unless...they were allowed time to consider peace.

Germany breathes heavily as he takes his seat again, staring down at the table resolutely as he clenches his fists in his lap.

"Yea," he says quietly.

"YES!" America cries triumphantly.

"Germany, are you insane?!" England shrieks, "You've damned us all!"

Germany doesn't speak, can't speak, as the room dissolves into chaos once again. America is saying something over the din of jumbled voices, discussing strategic locations and allocation of soldiers as a warm hand covers Germany's.

He looks up into Italy's watery eyes, rising from his seat as Italy tugs on his wrist and draws him out of the room. They walk in silence for a time, down the corridor and onto the patio of the meeting hall. The wind here is warm, caressing Germany's face as he gratefully stands beside Italy in silence.

"Thank you, Germany," Italy says quietly, taking the other nation's hand and squeezing it gently.

Germany allows this, nodding curtly as he stares out into the late afternoon sky.

No further words are spoken between them.

None are needed.


End file.
